DEFENCE
Scud spy seeks Bush green light
RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC
US AIR Force officials are awaiting a green light from
the incoming Bush Administration
to produce and field an advanced
air-dropped device able to detect
mobile missile launchers.
The inability to find Iraqi Scud
missile launchers during the 1991
Gulf War prompted the USAF to
develop the technology. Costing
$25,000 per unit, the Advanced
Remote Ground Unattended
Sensor (ARGUS) uses acoustic and
seismic sensors to detect mobile
ballistic missile launchers.
ARGUS will spot the movement
of a launcher and pass this informa
tion, by satellite communications,
to an air operations centre. Over
head spacecraft, an unmanned air
vehicle or a reconnaissance aircraft
would then confirm the sighting.
After it is dropped from an
aircraft the 1.8m (6ft) long, 41kg
NEWS IN BRIEF
• DERCO C-130 DELIVERY
Derco Aerospace has handed
over a first Brazilian C-130E
with an upgraded Supple
mental Performance, ach
ieved through an Enhanced
Components environmental
control system developed
jointly by Derco, Honeywell
and Lockheed Martin. The
upgrade of the five aircraft
includes cockpit displays, nav
igation and situational aware
ness systems.
• MIRACH CLEARED IN UK
The UK Ministry of Defence
has cleared the Meteor Mirach
100/5 jet powered target for
Royal Navy and Royal Air
Force air target training.
Mirach 100 was the winner of
the Replacement Aerial
Subsonic Target programme
in 1998. Meteor, an Alenia
Difesa company, is supplying
39 targets and three ground
stations, which will be operat
ed by the Fleet Target Group
atRNASCuldrose.
ARGUS has been test dropped from an F-15E and used in exercises
(901b) ARGUS buries itself in the
ground, leaving the tail-mounted
sensor exposed. Its battery will last
up to six months.
ARGUS is a significant impr
ovement over the earlier Igloo
White acoustic device used during
the Vietnam War. Igloo White
could not differentiate a soldier
from a passing elephant and had no
on-board processing, says a USAF
official. ARGUS compares engine
noise against the acoustic signature
of a moving missile launcher which
is stored in its microprocessor.
ARGUS also uses GPS satellite
navigation to pinpoint its location.
The USAF launched an
advanced concepts technology
demonstration in 1997 and has
showcased ARGUS during subse-
quentmilitary exercises. According
to Capt James Lonier, the ARGUS
programme manager, it can detect
a target at 500m and classify it at
250m. "On a cool, dry night, you
can have a detection range of sever
al kilometers," he adds.
Sandia National Laboratories
has built ARGUS prototypes for
flight testing from the USAF
Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle. Lonier
says ARGUS is ready for produc
tion, and he hopes the Bush
Administration's revised fiscal year
2002 defence budget request will
include initial production funds.
He says ARGUS could be available
for fielding by the end of FY03.
Plans call for integration of dif
ferent sensors on ARGUS for addi
tional missions, such as battle
damage assessment and time
critical targeting. Lonier says the
US Navy and US Marine are also
interested in ARGUS. •
Japan's air force wins
out in budget planning
THE JAPANESE finance min istry's draft budget plan for the
financial year 2 001 includes 43 out
of me 47 aircraft buys requested by
the Japan Defence Agency (JDA).
Most of the ¥240.3 billion ($2.1
billion) procurement budget has
gone to the Japan Air Self-Defence
Force (JASDF). The air force has
been allocated ¥155.8 billion for 12
Mtsubishi F-2 fighters, 11 unspec
ified primary trainer aircraft -
either die Fuji T-7 or the Pilatus
PC-7 Mk 2 as a replacement for
ageing Fuji T-3s - one Boeing/
Kawasaki CH-47J transport heli
copter and one Raytheon Hawker
U-12 5 A search and rescue aircraft.
The budget provides the Japan
Maritime Self-Defence Force
(JMSDF) with three Mitsubishi-
built Sikorsky SH-60J helicopters
and one UH-60J rescue machine.
The Japan Ground Self-Defence
Force (JGSDF) will acquire two
Kawasaki OH-1 scout machines,
two UH-60JA utility helicopters,
six Bell/Fuji UH-lJs, a CH-47JA
transport and a Raytheon Super
King Air/LR-2 liaison and recon
naissance aircraft.
The procurements are part of
Japan's¥4.955 trillion defence bud
get for the coming financial year.
This is an increase of 0.4% on the
current year, despite the fact that
Japan's underperforming economy
has led to an 2.7% cut in the nat
ional budget (Flight International,
9-15January2001).
According to reports from
Japan, the JDA has put in a request
for an additional ¥8 million for
studies into its planned buy of a
tanker aircraft. Four tankers are to
be bought as part of a recently-
approved five-year defence plan.
The agency has also announced
that it will buy two additional
Sikorsky MH-53J Sea Stallion
helicopters for minesweeping and
transport duties. •
MEADS ruling goes
to Lockheed Martin
AN INTERNATIONAL arbi tration tribunal has confirmed
NATO's selection of a Lockheed
Martin-led team to develop the
$12 billion Medium Extended Air
Defence Systems (MEADS). The
decision is binding with no further
opportunity for appeal.
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon
battled for the right to develop and
manufacture the air defence system
for Germany, Italy and the USA. In
May 1999, the tri-national NATO
MEADS Management Agency
picked Lockheed Martin over
Raytheon to lead EADS and Alenia
Marconi Systems in developing the
weapon. The NATO agency
rejected Raytheon's initial protest
in July 1999, leaving the US com
pany to make a further appeal to a
panel consisting of Germany, Italy
and USA. Raytheon acted without
the approval of its would-be part
ners, EADS and Alenia Marconi
Systems.
The US Army says the decision
validates "the integrity of the
source selection process". J
14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 January 2001